In this paper， the name， origin， producing area， harvesting， processing and functional indications of Arcae Concha were systematically combed and verified by consulting the ancient and modern literature， in order to provide a basis for the development of famous classical formulas containing Arcae Concha. Arcae Concha was first recorded in the name of Han in Bencao Shiyi， but later， due to the influence of LI Shizhen's error of combining Han item with Kuiha in the Ming dynasty， there were aliases such as Kuilu and Fulao， and Yizong Bidu began to include Walengzi as its correct name and has been used ever since. The textual descriptions and illustrations of the medicinal materials of Arcae Concha contained in the materia medica of the past generations were consistent with the modern Arca inflata， A. subcrenata and A. granosa. In ancient times， there were medicinal records of two parts of shell and meat， but now the shell is used as medicine， and the meat is mostly edible. In ancient times， Zhejiang， Shandong， Guangdong and Guangxi were the main producing areas， and Zhejiang was the best. It is now believed that A. inflata is mostly distributed in the northern part of the Huanghai Sea， A. granosa is mostly distributed in the coastal areas south of Shandong Peninsula in China， and A. subcrenata is widely distributed in the coastal areas of China. Its quality is better in a complete， white， no residual meat and sand. In ancient times， there was no clear harvesting period， and the processing was mainly based on vinegar quenching after calcination or powdering of calcined shell， but now the harvesting period is autumn and winter. After harvesting， it is directly washed and crushed for raw use or processed by calcined method. The records of the medicinal materials in the past dynasties on the properties of Arcae Concha were mainly warm， sweet， salty and mild， and it is now believed that Arcae Concha is salty in taste and mild in nature. In ancient times， it was believed that Arcae Concha were mainly used for coldness in the heart and abdomen， coldness in the waist and spine， benefiting the five internal organs， strengthening the stomach. Nowadays， it is believed that Arcae Concha can eliminate phlegm and remove blood stasis， soften the hardness and dissipate the lumps， produce acid and relieve pain. It can be used in the treatment of stubborn phlegm， gall tumor， scrofula and other symptoms. In conclusion， it is suggested that for the famous classical formulas containing Arcae Concha， the corresponding methods should be selected according to the processing requirements of the drug in the formulas， while those without processing requirements can be determined according to the functional position of the products.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disease with complex clinical manifestations, presenting substantial challenges in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Its symptoms and the eight extraordinary meridians are potentially correlated; therefore, this article explores the association between MSA symptom clusters and the eight extraordinary meridians based on their circulation and physiological functions, as well as their treatment strategies. The progression from deficiency to damage in the eight extraordinary meridians aligns with the core pathogenesis of MSA, which is characterized by "the continuous accumulation of impacts from the vital qi deficiency leading to eventual damage". Liver and kidney deficiency and the emptiness of the eight extraordinary meridians are required for the onset of MSA; the stagnation of qi deficiency and the gradual damage to the eight extraordinary meridians are the key stages in the prolonged progression of MSA. The disease often begins with the involvement of the yin and yang qiao mai, governor vessel, thoroughfare vessel, and conception vessel before progressing to multiple meridian involvements, ultimately affecting all eight extraordinary meridians simultaneously. The treatment approach emphasizes that "the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect method will be needed in order to secure victory" and focuses on "eliminate pathogenic factors and reinforce healthy qi". Distinguishing the extraordinary meridians and focusing on the primary symptoms are pivotal to improving efficacy. Clinical treatment is aimed at the target, and tailored treatment based on careful clinical observation ensures precision in targeting the disease using the eight extraordinary meridians as the framework and core symptoms as the specific focus. Additionally, combining acupuncture, daoyin therapy, and other method may help prolong survival. This article classifies clinical manifestations based on the theory of the eight extraordinary meridians and explores treatment.

BACKGROUND: Renal osteodystrophy (ROD) is a skeletal pathology associated with chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) that is characterized by aberrant bone mineralization and remodeling. ROD increases the risk of fracture and mortality in CKD patients. The underlying mechanisms of ROD remain elusive, partially due to the absence of an appropriate animal model. To address this gap, we established a stable mouse model of ROD using an optimized adenine-enriched diet and conducted exploratory analyses through ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-seq). METHODS: Eight-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were randomly allocated into three groups: control group ( n = 5), adenine and high-phosphate (HP) diet group ( n = 20), and the optimized adenine-containing diet group ( n = 20) for 12 weeks. We assessed the skeletal characteristics of model mice through blood biochemistry, microcomputed tomography (micro-CT), and bone histomorphometry. RNA-seq was utilized to profile gene expression changes of ROD. We elucidated the functions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using gene ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). DEGs were validated via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: By the fifth week, adenine followed by an HP diet induced rapid weight loss and high mortality rates in the mouse group, precluding further model development. Mice with optimized adenine diet-induced ROD displayed significant abnormalities in serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels, accompanied by pronounced hyperparathyroidism and hyperphosphatemia. The femur bone mineral density (BMD) of the model mice was lower than that of control mice, with substantial bone loss and cortical porosity. ROD mice exhibited substantial bone turnover with an increase in osteoblast and osteoclast markers. Transcriptomic profiling revealed 1907 genes with upregulated expression and 723 genes with downregulated expression in the femurs of ROD mice relative to those of control mice. Pathway analyses indicated significant enrichment of upregulated genes in the sphingolipid metabolism pathway. The significant upregulation of alkaline ceramidase 1 ( Acer1 ), alkaline ceramidase 2 ( Acer2 ), prosaposin-like 1 ( Psapl1 ), adenosine A1 receptor ( Adora1 ), and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 5 ( S1pr5 ) were successfully validated in mouse femurs by qRT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS Optimized adenine diet mouse model may be a valuable proxy for studying ROD. RNA-seq analysis revealed that the sphingolipid metabolism pathway is likely a key player in ROD pathogenesis, thereby providing new avenues for therapeutic intervention.
Animals ; Mice ; Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder/genetics* ; Male ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Sphingolipids/metabolism* ; Transcriptome/genetics* ; Signal Transduction/genetics* ; X-Ray Microtomography ; Adenine

BACKGROUND: The available evidence regarding the benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on patients receiving dialysis with coronary artery disease (CAD) is limited and inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the association between PCI and clinical outcomes as compared with medical therapy alone in patients undergoing dialysis with CAD in China. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective study was conducted in 30 tertiary medical centers across 12 provinces in China from January 2015 to June 2021 to include patients on dialysis with CAD. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and non-fatal stroke. Secondary outcomes included all-cause death, the individual components of MACE, and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria types 2, 3, or 5 bleeding. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between PCI and outcomes. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to account for potential between-group differences. RESULTS: Of the 1146 patients on dialysis with significant CAD, 821 (71.6%) underwent PCI. After a median follow-up of 23.0 months, PCI was associated with a 43.0% significantly lower risk for MACE (33.9% [ n  = 278] vs . 43.7% [ n  = 142]; adjusted hazards ratio 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.45-0.71), along with a slightly increased risk for bleeding outcomes that did not reach statistical significance (11.1% vs . 8.3%; adjusted hazards ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval, 0.82-2.11). Furthermore, PCI was associated with a significant reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities. Subgroup analysis did not modify the association of PCI with patient outcomes. These primary findings were consistent across IPTW, PSM, and competing risk analyses. CONCLUSION This study indicated that PCI in patients on dialysis with CAD was significantly associated with lower MACE and mortality when comparing with those with medical therapy alone, albeit with a slightly increased risk for bleeding events that did not reach statistical significance.
Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Coronary Artery Disease/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Renal Dialysis/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; China ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Treatment Outcome

Pharmacotranscriptomic profiles, which capture drug-induced changes in gene expression, offer vast potential for computational drug discovery and are widely used in modern medicine. However, current computational approaches neglected the associations within gene‒gene functional networks and unrevealed the systematic relationship between drug efficacy and the reversal effect. Here, we developed a new genome-scale functional module (GSFM) transformation framework to quantitatively evaluate drug efficacy for in silico drug discovery. GSFM employs four biologically interpretable quantifiers: GSFM_Up, GSFM_Down, GSFM_ssGSEA, and GSFM_TF to comprehensively evaluate the multi-dimension activities of each functional module (FM) at gene-level, pathway-level, and transcriptional regulatory network-level. Through a data transformation strategy, GSFM effectively converts noisy and potentially unreliable gene expression data into a more dependable FM active matrix, significantly outperforming other methods in terms of both robustness and accuracy. Besides, we found a positive correlation between RS_GSFM and drug efficacy, suggesting that RS_GSFM could serve as representative measure of drug efficacy. Furthermore, we identified WYE-354, perhexiline, and NTNCB as candidate therapeutic agents for the treatment of breast-invasive carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and castration-resistant prostate cancer, respectively. The results from in vitro and in vivo experiments have validated that all identified compounds exhibit potent anti-tumor effects, providing proof-of-concept for our computational approach.

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a highly aggressive hematologic malignancy with a poor prognosis, despite advancements in treatment. Many patients struggle with relapse or refractory disease. Investigating the role of the super-enhancer (SE) regulated gene ubiquitin-specific protease 20 (USP20) in T-ALL could enhance targeted therapies and improve clinical outcomes. Analysis of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) data from six T-ALL cell lines and seven pediatric samples identified USP20 as an SE-regulated driver gene. Utilizing the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) and BloodSpot databases, it was found that USP20 is specifically highly expressed in T-ALL. Knocking down USP20 with short hairpin RNA (shRNA) increased apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in T-ALL cells. In vivo studies showed that USP20 knockdown reduced tumor growth and improved survival. The USP20 inhibitor GSK2643943A demonstrated similar anti-tumor effects. Mass spectrometry, RNA-Seq, and immunoprecipitation revealed that USP20 interacted with hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit alpha (HIF1A) and stabilized it by deubiquitination. Cleavage under targets and tagmentation (CUT&Tag) results indicated that USP20 co-localized with HIF1A, jointly modulating target genes in T-ALL. This study identifies USP20 as a therapeutic target in T-ALL and suggests GSK2643943A as a potential treatment strategy.

Plant-derived extracellular vesicles (PDEVs), describe a group of nanoparticles released by plants. These particles are characterized by a lipid bilayer structure containing various proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and unique metabolites. Although the study on PDEVs is relatively new, having only been around for ten years, they have shown promising development prospects in both basic research and clinical transformation areas. Evidence suggests that PDEVs have excellent application prospects in regulating inflammation and treating tumors. Their distinctive, vesicle-mimicking architecture and stellar biocompatibility render them prime candidates for ferrying various anti-cancer agents, including RNA, proteins, and conventional chemotherapy drugs. Increasingly, studies have shown that PDEVs can be engineered as an innovative platform for combination cancer immunotherapy. Consequently, this paper provides an extensive summary of current developments in engineering methods and strategies for PDEVs in cancer treatment and combined cancer immune therapeutics. The essential characteristics of PDEVs, including the biogenesis process and components, as well as their anti-tumor activity and mechanism, are summarized. Finally, the in vivo safety of PDEVs as delivery vectors and the challenges of scale-up production and clinical transformation are discussed.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the mechanism of Shenqi Buzhong (SQBZ) Formula for alleviating mitochondrial dysfunction in a rat model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in light of the AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway. METHODS: Fifty male SD rat models of COPD, established by intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) instillation, exposure to cigarette smoke, and gavage of Senna leaf infusion, were randomized into 5 groups (n=10) for treatment with saline (model group), SQBZ Formula at low, moderate and high doses (3.08, 6.16 and 12.32 g/kg, respectively), or aminophylline (0.024 g/kg) by gavage for 4 weeks, with another 10 untreated rats as the control group. Pulmonary function of the rats were tested, and pathologies and ultrastructural changes of the lung tissues were examined using HE staining and transmission electron microscopy. The levels of SOD, ATP, MDA, and mitochondrial membrane potential in the lungs were detected using WST-1, colorimetric assay, TBA, and JC-1 methods. Flow cytometry was used to analyze ROS level in the lung tissues, and the protein expression levels of P-AMPKα, AMPKα, SIRTI, and PGC-1α were detected using Western blotting. RESULTS: The rat models of COPD showed significantly decreased lung function, severe histopathological injuries of the lungs, decreased pulmonary levels of SOD activity, ATP and mitochondrial membrane potential, increased levels of MDA and ROS, and decreased pulmonary expressions of P-AMPKα, SIRTI, and PGC-1α proteins. All these changes were significantly alleviated by treatment with SQBZ Formula and aminophylline, and the efficacy was comparable between high-dose SQBZ Formula group and aminophylline group. CONCLUSIONS SQBZ Formula ameliorates mitochondrial dysfunction in COPD rats possibly by activating the AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway.
Animals ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Sirtuin 1/metabolism* ; Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Male ; Rats ; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism* ; Mitochondria/metabolism* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Signal Transduction/drug effects*

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality based on the 10-year population-based multicenter prospective study. METHODS: A general population-based multicenter prospective study was conducted at four sites in rural China between 2013 and 2023. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to assess the association between BMI and mortality. Stratified analyses were performed based on the individual characteristics of the participants. RESULTS: Overall, 19,107 participants with a sum of 163,095 person-years were included and 1,910 participants died. The underweight (< 18.5 kg/m ²) presented an increase in all-cause mortality (adjusted hazards ratio [ aHR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [ CI]: 1.66-2.41), while overweight (≥ 24.0 to < 28.0 kg/m ²) and obesity (≥ 28.0 kg/m ²) presented a decrease with an aHR of 0.61 (95% CI: 0.52-0.73) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.37-0.70), respectively. Overweight ( aHR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67-0.86) and mild obesity ( aHR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.59-0.87) had a positive impact on mortality in people older than 60 years. All-cause mortality decreased rapidly until reaching a BMI of 25.7 kg/m ² ( aHR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) and increased slightly above that value, indicating a U-shaped association. The beneficial impact of being overweight on mortality was robust in most subgroups and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION This study provides additional evidence that overweight and mild obesity may be inversely related to the risk of death in individuals older than 60 years. Therefore, it is essential to consider age differences when formulating health and weight management strategies.
Humans ; Body Mass Index ; China/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Rural Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Adult ; Mortality ; Cause of Death ; Obesity/mortality* ; Overweight/mortality*

Objective: To analyze the prevalence of comorbidity of spinal curvature abnormality and malnutrition among primary and secondary school students aged 10-18 years in Tianjin in 2023, so as to provide scientific basis for the combined prevention of common diseases and multiple diseases among students and the construction of school health system. Methods: In September to October 2023, 31 884 primary and secondary school students aged 10 to 18 years in Tianjin were selected using stratified cluster random sampling. Abnormal spinal curvature in children and adolescents was assessed by Sereening of Spinal Curvature Abnormality of Children and Adolescents, while stunting, wasting, overweight, and obesity were determined according to the Screening for Malnutrition among Schoolage Children and Adolescents and Screening for Overweight and Obesity among Schoolage Children and Adolescents. The χ2 test was used to compare betweengroup differences in coprevalence, and multiple Logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk of different comorbidity types in different clusters. Results: The coprevalence of spinal curvature abnormality and malnutrition among primary and secondary school students in Tianjin was 1.6%, which was higher for girls than boys (1.8%, 1.4%), higher (2.5%) for senior high schools than for junior high schools and elementary schools (2.0%, 0.5%), and higher in rural than in urban areas (2.1%, 1.1%) (χ2=9.45, 141.92, 46.94, P<0.05). Multiple Logistic regression models showed that junior high school girls had a higher risk of incorrect posture comorbid with stunting and wasting (OR=4.52, 95%CI=1.84-11.06) and incorrect posture comorbid with overweight and obesity (OR=2.67, 95%CI=1.74-4.10) than boys, and that scoliosis/sagittal spinal abnormality comorbid with stunting and wasting (OR=0.10, 95%CI=0.02-0.44) risk was lower than that of boys, senior high school girls had a lower risk of scoliosis/sagittal spinal abnormality comorbid with overweight and obesity (OR=0.27, 95%CI=0.11-0.66) (P<0.05). Conclusions The coprevalence of spinal curvature abnormality and malnutrition is specific among primary and secondary school students in Tianjin, and the comorbidity type varies by gender and education stage. There is a need to increase prevention and control of spinal curvature abnormalities in school health working, intensive screening of key populations, and timely intervention.